


Plague Ship

by queenofroses12



Series: Star Trek TOS, Season Four [3]
Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: The Original Series
Genre: Action/Adventure, Adventure, BAMF Crew of the Starship Enterprise, Gen, Hallucinations, Hurt Spock (Star Trek), Illnesses, Mental Instability, Mind Meld, Outer Space, Psychological Horror, Rescue Missions, Script Fic, Trapped, Vulcan Mind Melds
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-02
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-03-13 11:34:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29152848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queenofroses12/pseuds/queenofroses12
Summary: Answering a distress call from a research ship lost in a star desert, the Enterprise crew stumbles in on a deadly pathogen.The rescue mission doesn’t go according to plan. Trapped within a ship full of a crew who have lost their minds, the Enterprise team has to  race against time to avert a disaster…before they fall prey to the same madness. Comments welcome and appreciated (plus helps me write faster.)
Relationships: James T. Kirk & Leonard "Bones" McCoy & Spock, James T. Kirk & Spock
Series: Star Trek TOS, Season Four [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2022361
Comments: 33
Kudos: 13





	1. Chapter 1

Stardate 1684.4

External view of Enterprise. The gigantic starship appears as a tiny silver blip in the midst of stygian darkness. The usual dazzling starfield is absent – it looks like they are completely alone, in a world that has gone abruptly and absolutely empty. Manages to make the mighty ship and her crew look small and vulnerable.

 **Kirk:** Captain’s Log, Stardate 1684.4. We have reached the approximate center of the star desert region Beta Osiris. It’s estimated that the ship would take another two weeks to reach normal density space.

(Kirk is lying back in his bed as he dictates the log, fully clothed – green wraparound tunic, not his usual golden uniform. Looks like he’s waiting for someone. A chessboard arranged on the table in the outer area of the cabin, a game halfway in progress.)

 **Kirk** (abandoning the clipped, official tones of the Captain’s Log): Captain James Kirk, Personal Log. Two weeks down, two to go. All that…sheer…emptiness out there..It makes a man feel so small. Forget the observation deck, I don’t even like to look at the viewscreen on the Bridge. If it wasn’t for sensors I’d be convinced we aren’t moving at all. Note to self – star deserts are creepy, get used to it.

(Looks at the chronometer, frowning a little, looks at the door. Spock is late to their game?)

……………………………………….

(Observation deck. Under normal circumstances, any time of the day will find several crewmembers here, either just standing and watching the stars slide by or looking for a more romantic place than cramped cabins to neck in. But now the place is deserted, and looking at the view, it is easy to see why. Only a complete expanse of darkness outside the cold transparent walls. Spock is the only one present, standing very close to the wall, a hand placed against it. He seems to find the view soothing rather than disturbing. )

…………………………………………………………….

(Bridge. It’s the junior officers on duty now, not the Alpha bridge crew. M’Ress, Rahda, Riley and a few others. Riley is in the command chair and evidently loves being in it.)

 **Rahda** : Any clue when the next shore leave would roll around? It’s been a couple of months since we got to go somewhere decent.

 **Riley:** The Shore Leave planet is sorta on our way…

 **M’Ress:** You sure you want to try that? Last time some idiot called up Khan and his entire team…

 **Riley** (blushing – he’s evidently the idiot in question): Come on, we got rid of them without the alphas even knowing!

 **Rahda** : Yep, if Chekov hadn’t let slip that part…

 **M’Ress (** hears something on her console, drops the bantering manner instantly. All business now. Listens intently. The others notice, and also go on All-Business mode.)

 **M’Ress** : Distress call. (Listens a moment more, head tilted). Automated.

…………………………………..

(Kirk’s cabin. Chessgame in progress.)

 **Kirk** (smug): Mate in two.

(Spock makes a move. From Jim’s expression, it’s clear that the captain’s strategy just got blown out of the water.)

 **Spock:** I believe I have begun to adapt to your illogical style.

(Kirk glares at him for a moment, grins, and returns to contemplating the board, wondering whether he can salvage the game.)

 **Kirk** : Knight to-

(Intercom beeps, cutting him off.)

 **M’Ress:** Brridge to Captain Kirrk.

……………………………………………

(Bridge. Kirk in the command chair, Spock at the science console. The rest of the bridge crew is still the junior officers.)

 **Kirk:** Have you tried hailing them on different frequencies?

 **M’Ress:** Yes, Captain. Severral times. No rresponse.

 **Kirk :** This is basically uncharted space, and a star desert, of all things. What’s an unarmed research ship doing out here?

 **Spock:** The Lavlin is equipped with state-of-the-art defense systems, Captain. They were not quite unarmed, and thus would have ventured beyond the usual ‘ safe zones.’However, the crew was composed of scientists with no real combat training.

 **Kirk:** Had weapons, but not the sort of folk who’d know how to use them. How long before we intercept?

 **Spock:** Four hours, eighteen point seven minutes.

……………………………….

(Some time later. The Alpha shift crew back on duty. Approaching Lavlin, which can be seen drifting dead in the distance. A pretty small ship, compared to the Enterprise. Streamlined, gleaming silver. Seems to have taken some little knocks – the hull looks a bit battered, but no real damage. McCoy is also on the Bridge, right beside Kirk.)

 **Uhura** (going by her tone, she has been hailing the ship for a while): Lavlin, this is USS Enterprise. Please respond. Lavlin..

(The repeated hailing goes on in the background, with no response. By now everyone – including Uhura- have stopped expecting any response. Whoever is in there is in no mood to chat.)

 **Spock** (looking into the science console viewer): No structural damage to the hull. The shields are down. Main power offline, life support on minimal. Decks five and nine appear to have shut down life support completely. Multiple life signs – all Terran.

 **Kirk** (leaning forward slightly): Do we have a crew manifest of the Lavlin?

Spock (doesn’t look up): No, captain. It is mandatory for research vessels to file one, but occasionally they fail to update the details.

 **Kirk:** No way to know whether the ship was all-Terran to begin with.

 **McCoy:** How strong are the life signs, Spock?

 **Spock:** Difficult to be sure from a long range scan, doctor, but they appear more or less healthy.

 **Chekov** (low voice): If they’re fine why aren’t they responding?

 **Sulu(** also low voice, meant for Chekov only): Pav, they’re a research ship a thousand lightyears away from anywhere they should be. They definitely aren’t fine.

(Chekov’s eyes go back to the silent ship on the viewscreen. He looks nervous.)

 **Uhura:** They’re receiving the hails, but they won’t – or can’t – respond. Communication systems seem to be functional.

(Everyone knows what that means. It looks like it’s Lavlin’s crew that is non functional, not the equipment.)

 **McCoy:** Um, what exactly were they researching, to begin with? Weapons or Medical or..

(He’s evidently going over the various possibilities that could have put an entire crew out of action and really not liking the pictures his imagination conjured up.)

 **Spock:** Archaeology.

 **McCoy** : Sorta hard to research that in a star desert.

(Looks back at the Lavlin’s image, wondering what disasters that particular line of research would lead to.)

 **Kirk** (getting to his feet): We’re going in.

(McCoy rolls his eyes, expression plainly stating ‘Oh, sure, why not,’ but he follows the captain and Spock readily enough.)

……………………………..

(Lavlin Bridge. The place looks like a hurricane went through it, in contrast to the pristine, professional starship bridges we are used to seeing. Many of the consoles are dark, some broken and sparking wildly. The transporter beams from the Enterprise flicker on, slowly solidifying into the away team – Kirk, Spock, McCoy , another blueshirt and a security contingent. Everyone wearing life-support belts and the golden aura of the forcefield makes them look almost otherworldly, especially in the midst of the wreckage.)

Kirk (takes a sweeping glance over the Bridge): What-

(A phaser shot. It’s aimed at Kirk, but glances off the forcefield around him – part of the reason they are wearing the lifesupport belts to begin with. Way more effective than Kevlar.)

 **A man’s voice** (harsh, furious, and far from sane): You won’t get me that easy! You won’t!

(They now see where the shot came from. A wild eyed man – in Command gold, with different insignia than the Enterprise crew – stands up from where he had been hiding behind the command chair. He’s aiming the phaser wildly, trembling, very pale and panicked. The Security team instantly returns fire, a stun shot dropping him where he stood.)

 **Kirk:** Anyone else here?

 **Blueshirt** (a young ensign with slightly unruly hair, takes his eyes from the stunned man on the floor and looks back at his tricorder): Not on the Bridge, sir. The nearest one’s outside in the corridor..um, moving away now..no, moving toward..just wandering around, it looks like, sir. Terran. And there’s a lot of them scattered all over the ship, sir. Not in a coordinated way, just..um, moving here and there.

 **Spock** (plainly disapproving of the young man’s nervous manner): An exact number, Ensign Kowalski.

 **Kowalski** (flustered at the implied reprimand, hurriedly glancing down at the tricorder again): Um, one hundred and thirty..thirty four, sir.

 **Kirk:** The normal crew compliment for a research ship of this class would be one hundred and forty.

 **McCoy** (kneeling beside the unconscious attacker, scanning him) : Let’s hope they were just a few hands short.

(He knows that that is not the likeliest answer, given what they have just seen.)

 **Kirk** : What’s wrong with him?

 **McCoy** (intent on the scanner): Degeneration of synaptic pathways…an abscess located in the occipital lobe.. The entire nervous system is affected.

 **Kirk** (looking up at the others who are scanning the area with tricorders): Radiation?

 **Spock:** Only normal background readings, Captain.

 **Kirk** (to McCoy): Pathogens?

 **McCoy** (grumpy, I’m-a-doctor-not-a-psychic tone): Let me finish this scan. Nothing that’s in our databanks anyway, or the tricorders’d have begun screeching the moment we landed.

 **Redshirt 1** (murmured): Very comforting.

(While McCoy attends to the patient, the others move around the bridge, scanning and checking consoles to figure out what exactly happened…and why.)

 **Kirk** (checking the logs): The last entry..well, the last coherent one..is from three days ago. They were in orbit around Vadeikan IV, exploring the ruins. Apparently found nothing of much interest..

 **Redshirt 2** (at the Navigation console. Redshirt 1 is still armed and ready in the background): Looks like they headed from there at max warp sir. Practically went in a straight line. No clear course set to anywhere, just running.

 **Redshirt 1:** Going for help?

 **Redshirt 2 (** rolling her eyes): Vadeikan’s got three populated planets. Plenty places to run to for help than smack dab into the middle of a star desert.

 **McCoy** (now scanning the bridge with the medical tricorder): Pathogen.

(Everyone looks at him)

 **McCoy :** Some kind of spores…carrying a virus. The air here’s chockfull of it. We’ll have to go through level three decon once we beam back.

 **Kirk** : Inhalational?

 **McCoy:** Yeah… Through the respiratory tract, enters the bloodstream, spreads to the neural tissue. It’s chowing down on grey matter. (looks back at the unconscious man) Depending on which part of the brain the thing went for, the crew here could be in any condition ranging from euphoric-enough-to-ignore-decompression to paranoid and homicidal.

 **Kowalski** (glancing around): Um, are we, I mean..

 **McCoy:** We aren’t breathing their air, ensign.

 **Spock** (at one of the few working consoles): Someone has activated the auxillary bridge. Attempting to take over control.

(Everyone reacts. Sounds like good news, if at least some of the crew is in good enough a condition to try and take charge… Or very bad news, if the ones trying to take charge are most emphatically not in good enough a condition.)

 **Kirk (** moving to the Communications console, speaking into it): Auxillary bridge, please respond. This is Captain James Kirk of USS Enterprise. We are here to help. Auxillary bridge, please resp-

(A sudden shout, well, scream, from the other end cuts him short. Looks like it is very bad news, after all.)

 **Redshirt 2:** Sir, they’re raising shields!

(Trouble. That’s going to cut them off from the Enterprise.)

 **Kirk** (into communicator): Kyle-

(Breaks off, seeing in the viewscreen that the shields have already been raised. They are stuck here, for the time being, at least.)

 **A voice** (from the Auxillary bridge): Go away! Surrender! We’re here!

(Everyone glances at each other. The guy down there is in almost the same condition as the shooter)

 **Kirk (** soothing, reasonable tone): We are here to help, officer. We are from the Federation.

 **Voice** (screeching, wild): Liar! Klingon! I know a Klingon voice! Go away!

 **McCoy:** Turn on the video, Jim. Let them see us.

(Kirk shakes his head. He’s already tried this, but the communication console, like all the other ones, is in a pretty bad shape. No way to turn on video.)

 **Voice:** We’ll kill you! We can kill you! We’ll blow up the Bridge!

 **Spock:** They are activating the Bridge Defense systems, Captain. Level seven.

 **Redshirt 1:** (Swears under his breath.)

 **McCoy** (eyes wide): That’s the one with the explosions?

(No one bothers to reply – it evidently is. Spock and Kowalski are at the consoles, trying everything they can to restore control to Main Bridge…or at least, halt the defense sequence. Kowalski pale and sweating, Spock as calm as if he’s checking a simple search engine command.)

 **Kirk** (at the communications console): Listen to me, we’ll go away. But you first need to lower the shields. Otherwise we can’t beam back. You see?

 **Voice** (beyond reasoning): Go away!

(Slight sounds of relays turning, lights blinking on. They can’t stop whatever is going to happen..not in time. )

 **Kirk :** Positions.

(Everyone gets into the best ‘survive the blast’ positions – the defense system will activate a concussive shockwave that will take out any intruder without too much damage to the equipment on the Bridge. All they can do is to hope that, with the power levels as low as it is, the blast won’t have enough force to get past the belt forcefields. McCoy goes to the unconscious attacker, tries to get him into minimum damage position.)

…………………………..

(Enterprise Bridge – the team here can hear everything that’s happening down there…but can do nothing to help.)

 **Chekov** (pale, horrified): It’ll kill them!

 **Sulu:** Nah…The Lavlin’s barely got enough power to drift…There won’t be all that much force behind the blasts..

(He’s clearly more hopeful than sure, but no one contradicts him.)

…………………………….

(Lavlin Bridge. After the blast. Everyone is on the floor, beginning to stir. No injuries to be seen, except for the attacker, who is covered in blood.)

 **Kirk (** getting to his feet shakily): Spock? Bones?

(Everyone gets up, rather shaky and dazed. Couple of nosebleeds, no worse. McCoy is already beside the attacker, trying to help him.)

 **McCoy** : That belt forcefields… It got us shielded, but he got the whole blast…

 **Spock (** grim tone): The belt forcefields were overloaded from the concussion.

(A moment of horror as everyone realizes what this means – the forcefields are gone. No longer any golden glow around them. They are breathing the same air as the Lavlin crew…the air chockfull of the virus…)

 **Kowalski** (almost a whimper): Oh God.


	2. Chapter 2

**Kirk** (standing a little away from the others, speaking into his communicator): Yes, we’re okay, for now. Keep trying to find the shield’s frequency. We’ll forward what data we get on the virus to the Mainframe, and keep the comm. channels open

(continues giving the instructions, presumably to Scotty.)

(Scene after the blast- and after the team has realized what is about to happen to them. Alarmed looks on every human, as each look at the others, wondering how the symptoms would begin. Kowalski looks like he’s on the verge of panic.)

**McCoy** (matter-of-fact, battlefield medic manner from where he is beside his patient): Kid, get me that Medkit.

(Indicates the medkit that had fallen from his hand when the blast hit and is now at the other side of the Bridge **)**

 **Kowalski** (startled): Med.. Uh, yes, yes sir.

(Pulls himself together with an effort, goes over to get the medkit.)

 **McCoy** (as Kowalski hands him the medkit): Keep pressure here for a minute. No, harder, you won’t break any bones. Yeah, that’s better.

(The simple instructions, plus just the fact of having something to do, is working wonders for the ensign. He’s back in professional mode, the brief moment of panic dispelled.)

**Kirk** : There should be lifesupport belts on the Bridge. Check the emergency lockers, Hiddleston.

(It might be too late already, but better a slim chance than none. After all, no way to know how long an exposure to the virus would be deadly. Hiddleston, the blond female redshirt, goes over to where the lockers should be – tough to find the exact location amid the debris.)

 **Spock** (at one of the consoles): Auxillary Bridge control activated by Chief Engineer Lt Cmdr Harlan. We cannot regain control from here, and even if we could, the systems have sustained too much damage to be operational.

 **Redshirt 1** (indicating the Communications console) : Should we try to talk them down again, sir?

**Kirk** : No, not till we’re out of here, anyway. There are other Bridge defense systems that don’t take much power. Better that they think they’ve got rid of us.

(turns to Spock)

 **Kirk** : Can you lift the Bridge lockdown orders without the Auxillary noticing?

 **Spock** : I believe so, Captain.

(turns to one of the security consoles which look slightly less shattered than the others)

**Hiddleston** (from the other side of the bridge, having dug past the debris to the emergency locker): They’re damaged, sir.

(Holds up the damaged belts – they don’t have the telltale glow around them.)

 **Hiddleston:** The locker was open and unshielded. They must’ve been taking the belts out of the locker when…when whatever did this (indicates the broken and sparking consoles) happened.

 **Redshirt 1(Anderson** ) : Looks like phaser fire, sir. (indicates the attacker) Maybe he went on a shooting spree thinking the consoles were killer robots or something.

 **Kirk** : Bones.

 **McCoy** (looking up, seeing that everyone’s eyes are on him): We got to get to sickbay, ASAP. Maybe they had the time to make some kind of diagnosis. Even if they didn’t, I’ll need the equipment. (looks down again at his patient) And this one needs the sickbay too. I’ve got him stabilized, but no telling how long it’ll hold, not with this thing eating him.

……………………………………….

(Enterprise. One of the medical labs. M’Benga and some other Med staff present, poring over the data the away team has transmitted.)

**M’Benga** (to a tech nearby): Get Dr Indira to run the analysis on these chromosomes. Priority on Zadkeen protocols.

(Moves over to the intercom)

 **M’Benga** : Lab Five to Bridge

. **Scotty’s voice** : Got something for us, laddie?

 **M’Benga** : Not yet. Can you beam something out through their shields, something inanimate? Won’t matter how many pieces it arrives in, we just need a sample of the virus.

**Scotty (** slightly doubtful): We’ll see what we can do **.**

 **M’Benga** : Get something from the Bridge, if you can. Leonard said the virus concentration is so high that anything there’ll be coated in it.

……………………………………

(Back aboard the Lavlin, a dimly lit corridor. It’s debris strewn, and several of the walls have chunks missing from them, state of the art equipment left in pieces. Bloodstains on the floor. The Enterprise team is hurrying, with the Lavlin officer’s unconscious body on an antigrav gurney. McCoy and Kowalski, the team members who’d be the least useful in combat, are handling the gurney, while the others, armed, encircle them with Hiddleston taking point and Anderson bringing up the rear.)

**Kirk:** If you feel anything strange, anything that could be the onset of symptoms, speak up immediately.

 **Kowalski** : Um, sir, does, uh, fear count? I’m a bit shaky…

(Hiddleston muffles a chuckle)

 **Kirk:** Under the circumstances, fear is a very rational response, ensign. All the same, remain alert.

(Kirk moves a bit closer to McCoy **)**

 **Kirk** (low voice, meant only for the doctor’s ears): How long do you think we have?

 **McCoy** (resigned tone): Alive, at least three days, which is how long these folk seem to have been infected. Sane…can’t say.

(Kirk opens his mouth to respond, but before he can say anything, a bloodcurdling scream erupts from one of the corridors they just passed. Everyone freezes **.)**

 **McCoy** : What..

**Kirk** (sharply): Spock, Anderson, with me. Hiddleston, guard them.

(Indicates McCoy, Kowalski and the patient)

(The scream – so torn by fear or pain that it’s impossible to tell whether it’s from a man or a woman – comes again. The three officers take off down the corridor towards it, phasers drawn and ready. Kowalski looks beseechingly at McCoy, as if asking for reassurance. Right now the doctor is too worried himself to give any.)

………………………………

 **Spock** (keeping one eye on his tricorder as he runs): Six life signs ahead.

(They round a corner and see where the screams are coming from – a cabin whose doors have been broken down by a group of the maddened Lavlin crew. About five of them attacking, the screamer – a young man in a medic’s blue tunic – at the point of being literally torn apart by the mob, a body motionless on the floor.)

 **Kirk:** Shoot to stun.

(The Enterprise team opens fire just as a couple of the infected begin to turn towards them. The attackers are all down in a matter of seconds.)

 **Kirk** (taking a quick look at the screamer’s insignia): Doctor?

(The young man has stopped screaming, but he is clearly infected- just not violent. He’s cowering against the wall, eyes blank of everything but terror, staring at the rescuers.)

 **Kirk** (gentle, soothing tone, like someone talking to a scared puppy): It’s okay now, you’re safe. We’re here to help. Help, okay? We won’t hurt you.

(Spock goes to the body on the floor- one look is enough to tell they are too late to help this one. A Vulcan woman, in command gold, eyes closed. Several wounds – none of which are bleeding now. She has been dead for a while.)

**Kirk** (glances at Spock, sees him shake his head, returns his attention to the Lavlin medic): Come on. It’s okay. (Holds out a hand to him, smiling) Come on, take my hand, let’s get you away from this mess.

(The young man’s face is wrinkled in confusion, head tilted to one side as if he’s trying to work out what is happening but is quite unable to do so. Reaches for Kirk’s hand hesitantly. Anderson, with phaser in hand, is looking a bit nervous about the evidently unstable man stepping close to his captain, but says nothing. They can’t leave this guy here like this – he won’t stand a chance.)

 **Kirk** (to Andersen): Take the body. We’ll need it to check whether she was infected as well.

(Looks at Spock, evidently hoping that at least one of them would be safe.)

………………………………………………………….

(Enterprise Bridge. Scotty is in the command chair, glaring at the Lavlin’s image on the viewscreen. It’s unbearably frustrating, to be so near to their imperiled comrades and still unable to help.)

 **Chekov:** Can we fire on it? We can adjust the firepower so that it’d just take out the shields without any damage to the ship…well, without much damage.

 **Scotty** (who has, of course, already considered this idea and rejected it): Too risky. Lavlin isn’t a battleship or a deep space one designed to tank hits. She’s supposed to have this state-of-the-art defense systems and stuff, aye, but I’ve been looking through the schematics. The whole kit and kabadoodle won’t be any good with her main power offline – with power to their shields so low, even at the weakest setting our shots will go past the shields and blow the whole thing to atoms. The best chance is to figure out the frequency of the shield and send a medic and security contingent in.

(He does not add ‘And hope our people manage to stay alive till then’, but they all know he’s thinking it. So are they.)

…………………………………………..

(Lavlin sickbay. Shows signs of serious fighting having gone down here, but not in as bad a condition as the rest of the ship. The Redshirts are posted at the doors, phasers in hand. Each occasionally glance at the other, watching for any tell-tale signs, any symptoms. Understandably nervous about the fact that the other person, with a deadly weapon in hand, may not have many minutes of sanity left. All the same, with hundred something potential hostiles, they can’t risk being unarmed, either.)

 **Anderson:** Did they figure out how it started?

 **Hiddleston** (shrugs): Yep, just checked the logs to narrow it down. Some kind of dig going down at Vedeikan, they got this old mummified corpse, some idiot botched the containment procedures.

**Kowalski** (wandering in, looking noticeably more relaxed): Hi, guys!

(The Redshirts exchange startled looks. Both shift their phasers slightly, on the watch for the kid now **.)**

 **Anderson** : You okay, kid?

**Kowalski** (flashing them a quick grin): Sure!

**Hiddleston (** moves a bit closer): Not worried?

 **Kowalski** (shrugs): Hey, who cares. If I’m gonna go nuts and off myself, might as well have some fun first. Wanna have some fun?

(The Redshirts are worried, but can’t help cracking a smile at the change in the shy ensign.)

**Hiddleston:** Uh, maybe later. Can I see your phaser for a moment?

……………………………………………..

(The autopsy room, the Vulcan woman’s dead body under what is probably a futuristic scanning device. McCoy intent upon examining the readings, Spock working at something on a PADD, Kirk looking at the readings as if trying to see whether he can make head or tail of it – he can’t.)

 **McCoy** (musing tone, talking more to himself than the other two): Hmm… Not much synaptic damage, nothing that doesn’t come from natural decay, she’s been gone for a while…no abscesses… Looks like it can’t get a grip on Vulcan brains, probably ‘cause it isn’t a blasted computer virus..

(Kirk relaxes slightly, flashing a wan smile at Spock. Naturally, no reaction from the Vulcan.)

 **McCoy** (frowning as he notices something else): Damn.

**Kirk** (with a ‘Can’t we have _some_ good news’ look): What?

 **McCoy:** The injuries didn’t kill her. All were inflicted after death. Some of them out there must’ve been gone enough to slash and stab at a corpse, but she was dead or close to dead when they began **.**

 **Kirk** (impatient): Then what did kill her?

 **McCoy** (looks at Spock, who is of course as stoic as ever): The infection. It does its work in the bloodstream itself, in Vulcans, and progresses a good bit faster, too. Attacks the oxygen carrying cells instead of nerve cells. She must’ve been unconscious within a couple of hours, dead soon after. Hypoxia.

(Kirk looks aghast – at least the rest of them have some time left in which they can expect a cure to be found. Spock looks like he is running a check on his own body, assessing the extent of damage, if any.)

 **McCoy** (moving over to Spock with a medscanner): How d’you feel?

**Spock** (with no more emotion than there would be for reciting a formula): A slight shortness of breath, heartbeat elevated to-

(Anderson enters the room)

 **Anderson** (he can see from the expression of the senior officers that there’s no good news here): Sir?

(Everyone turns to look at him.)

 **Anderson:** It got Kowalski. We put him in one of the isolation cubicles, next to that Lavlin medic.

………………………………………….

(Enterprise, medical lab)

 **M’Benga:** The good news is that it’s a smart virus. It keeps the Terran victims at the most infectious stage for a while – upto five days, depending on personal constitution. If we can work out a way to halt the progress of infection, the synaptic damage can be reversed easily enough **.**

 **Chapel** : Terran victims…

**M’Benga** (sighs. He knows who she’s thinking of.): The Commander doesn’t have that advantage.

…………………………………………….

(Enterprise Bridge. The atmosphere is, understandably, tense.)

 **Uhura** (having been trying this for a while): Commander Harlan, please respond. USS Enterprise to Lavlin, Auxillary bridge…(shakes her head) Nothing. He’s convinced we’re a Klingon vessel attempting to trap him. I think he’s muted the comm. channel.

(Chekov frowning at a reading on the panel before him. Surely that couldn’t mean… Nudges Sulu, attracts his attention to the reading. It looks like an energy surge on the smaller ship. Sulu’s eyes widen in alarm.)

 **Sulu** : Mr Scott, sir!

(Scotty, who had been standing next to the guy at the Engineering console, hurries over)

 **Scotty:** Lad?

 **Sulu** (indicating the readings): The readings from Lavlin, sir. It looks like they’re going to…

( Scotty looks at the readings. Swears under his breath.)


	3. Chapter 3

(Lavlin Sickbay, the group standing around, discussing possibilities. The Redshirts are present as well. McCoy fiddling with the medkit, likely just to keep his fingers busy at something so that no one will see them shaking. A physical disease is one thing, losing one’s mind quite another.)

 **McCoy** (looking at Spock, who doesn’t show any sign of the disease eating at him other than an unnatural pallor): I can slow it down a bit, but it won’t buy you much time. Maybe an hour more. Will that Healing Trance or whatever mind voodoo it is help?

 **Spock** (thinks about it for a minute, or maybe running a check on himself to see how far the disease got by now): A trance cannot reverse the damage, but it can slow the progress of the infection considerably.

 **Kirk:** We just need time. Every Med lab aboard Enterprise is working on this virus. They’re bound to figure out a cure.

(McCoy nods – he has full confidence in his team)

**McCoy:** M’Benga’s team is making good progress, last time I checked. There’s something similar in the database, some Andorian disease. They can work from that.

 **Hiddleston** : There’re still the shields…

 **Anderson** (shrugs): We can just wait it out, Lev. This junkheap can’t have much more power left, they’ll turn off by themselves soon enough.

 **Hiddleston** (frowns, tightens her grip on the phaser): Lev? Why are you calling me Lev?

 **Anderson** (puzzled, alarmed): Um, because you are..uh..you..

 **Hiddleston** (Places herself between the senior officers and Anderson): My name’s Kishara Hiddleston. 

**Anderson** (now genuinely frightened): You aren’t!

(stares at the others. Realizes what is happening)

**Anderson** (bewildered, half resigned tone, trying to hold onto reality): You.. You had better take my phaser, sir.

(Hands it over, blinking as if to clear his vision, as if he is seeing something that isn’t or can’t be there.)

 **McCoy** (with a soothing smile): Come on.

(Leads him to one of the cubicles. Hiddleston has her phaser in hand and ready to fire, but Anderson goes quietly enough. he’s just very confused. Everyone exchanges glances, each knowing that they could be the next one led off.)

**Kirk (** takes a deep breath): Alright. We’ll have to leave this fight to those back aboard. Everyone goes into isolation cubicles, now. Spock, lock the rest of us in, then enter the Healing Trance.

**Hiddleston** (doesn’t like this): If one of those crazies manages to make their way in…

 **Kirk:** We’ll put the sickbay on lockdown. Once Scotty figures out how to get past the shields, they can beam right in.

(Kirk looks like he hates this plan – it’s way too passive a role for his liking, just waiting in a cubicle to get rescued. But there’s no choice. Soon enough none of them would be in any shape to do anything other than possibly get themselves killed **)**

 **McCoy** : Okay, then-

(Kirk’s communicator beeps, cutting off whatever the doctor was about to say)

**Kirk:** Scotty?

 **Scotty’s Voice** : Captain, are you..er..

 **McCoy** (standing within pickup range of the communicator): No crazier than usual, as of now.

 **Scotty** (slight relief): There’s a problem. (Pauses, realizes how that sounds) I mean, another problem.

………………………………….

(Lavlin Auxillary Bridge. There’s only one officer present, a man who doesn’t look quite as crazed as the attacker on the primary Bridge, but with a look that says he’s clearly not all there. Chief Engineer Harlan. He’s frantically pushing buttons on the console before him, murmuring something, occasionally glancing up at the viewscreens surrounding the bridge. The viewscreens show Enterprise, hovering close to the Lavlin, dwarfing it completely **.)**

 **Harlan** : Come on, dammit, this gotta work, gotta work, please oh please…

(He glances up at the viewscreen again and we see what he is seeing – a Klingon warship close by, firing ports active and glowing, about to swoop down upon his ship. No wonder the poor guy is terrified.)

……………………………………….

**Kirk** (You-gotta-be-kidding-me look): He’s trying _what_?

 **Scotty:** The Harusian Maneuver, sir.

**McCoy** (frowning, trying to remember where he has heard that before): Isn’t that the one which..uh, kickstarts the engines?

(Kirk glances at him, half amused, half exasperated **)**

 **Hiddleston** (an ensign, not as green as Kowalski, but still green enough to be eager to try and impress her superiors at any chance – even when things are this dire): It’s a last ditch maneuver, Doctor. Recalibrates the warp core settings so that a lot of power is dumped into the primary coils, giving the ship a sudden huge spurt of speed which can hopefully take it out of range of the surprised attacker **.**

 **McCoy(** alarmed): So this thing’s gonna take off to heaven knows where with us along for the ride?

 **Spock** (already working at one of the consoles, pulling up something that looks like engineering schematics of the Lavlin): The Harusian Maneuver is feasible only for Constitution Class ships, Doctor. The Lavlin’s engines are not programmed to accommodate such a surge of power, nor is its mainframe constructed to withstand the acceleration that would be produced.

 **McCoy** (realizing things are way worse than imagined): So…

 **Spock** (not looking up from the screen, almost casual tone): The ship will undergo explosive decompression.

 **McCoy** (drops into the nearest chair): Once, just once, I’d kill to have one uncomplicated mission.

**Kirk** (with a slight smile): If you wanted uncomplicated, you would’ve stayed planetside, Bones.

(Turns his attention back to Scotty on the communicator)

 **Kirk:** How do we stop it without getting to the Auxillary bridge? Right now I wouldn’t trust any of us here in a direct fight.

**Scotty:** How bad’s things up at the main Bridge, sir? Can ye, maybe..

(Spock looks up from the screen, catches Kirk’s eye, shakes his head **.)**

 **Kirk** : Negative, Scotty. The main Bridge’s consoles are all blasted to bits.

 **Scotty** (a moment’s hesitation, as he calculates the chances): Then ye’ll have to go straight to Engineering. There’ll be controls down there, which can override the Auxillary – in this matter, at least. Can’t make them lower the shields or anything, but should be enough to shut down this daft an order.

 **Kirk:** How long have we got?

(Seems to realize this is the third time he has asked that question this day – and that till now he hasn’t liked any of the answers he got.)

 **Scotty** : From what we can see from here, their computer, sane lassie that she is, cut off his first try. He’ll have to over ride it – he can, Auxillary’s got that authority if it can’t pick up any response from Main Bridge, but it’ll take some time, especially as panicked as he is. Half an hour, I’d say, but would nae cut it too close, if ye ask me, sir.

**Kirk** (going over to Spock to look at the schematics – he’s called up the entire map of the ship) : We’ll have to get to Engineering from here. The turbolifts won’t function, not with mainpower offline. The nearest route is through deck five – lifesupport has been turned off down there, so we’ll have to skip it. The best chance would be through the shuttle bay and cut over to… (running a rapid mental calculation) Best case scenario, without any interruptions from the Lavlin crew, it’ll take us almost half that time. And there will be interruptions, I’d bet on it.

**McCoy** (medical tricorder in hand, scanning everyone present, looking increasingly grim as he checks each reading): No… It’s.. (shakes his head) Sorry, Jim, but none of us has a chance of lasting long enough. You’re the least affected, and even you will be out of it in minutes. And that is if we remain here. Going back out there, possibly having to fight our way through…the fight-or-flight reflex by itself may be enough to send us over the edge.

**Spock** (getting up – almost staggers a little, catches his balance before the others notice): Doctor, perhaps-

 **McCoy:** No, just no. And don’t give me the usual ‘I’m-a-Vulcan’ spiel, even you need oxygen for that computer brain of yours. There’s no way you’ll be able to make it through to Engineering. You’ll collapse halfway, if you don’t get lynched before then. You won’t last an hour even if you stay here and stay quiet, and that trance voodoo will only buy you some hours more. You ain’t in any shape to go play Lone Ranger.

**Kirk:** That Tri-ox compound…

 **McCoy** (with the exasperation common to all physicians when patients with just enough know how to comment makes dumb suggestions) : Tri-Ox is supposed to compensate for low oxygen atmosphere, Jim, it won’t do a thing if the cells can’t carry oxygen to begin with.

**Spock** (pushing on, not particularly bothered by McCoy’s protest): But there are other compounds. Other medicines.

 **McCoy** (with a sigh): Some, but I’m telling the entire truth here, Spock, none of them will be enough to get you there in good enough a condition to do whatever you’re supposed to. You’ll have to fight your way through, at least once. We get only one shot at this, don’t forget.

 **Spock:** I know I will not make it through alone, doctor.

…………………………………………

(Enterprise Bridge. Dr Noel is also present, having been called up to try and talk Harlan down. She shakes her head, stepping away from the communication console **)**

 **Uhura** : It’s no good. He’s muted the audio, alright.

**Noel:** Maybe they – our people down there- should be trying to get through to the Auxillary. Shoot their way through, if it came to that. If they could lower those shields somehow… (Everyone looks at her. Noel realizes she’s said something absurd, but doesn’t know what)

 **Scotty:** Lassie, you ever seen an Auxillary bridge?

 **Uhura:** The Auxillary Bridge is the most secure part aboard, Helen. It’s the one you use if the ship’s in serious trouble, if someone’s managed to invade the ship or something. It’s built so that no attacker, from inside or outside the ship, can get in to take control. Harlan’s got the safest hidey hole aboard Lavlin.

**Chekov:** What for Pluto’s sake does that guy think he’s doing? He’s their chief engineer! If anyone knows this move’s gonna get his ship blown up, it’d be him!

 **Noel** : Easy enough to answer that one. Harlan’s last posting was aboard USS Kelvin, a Constitution Class ship – one on patrol along the Klingon Neutral zone borders. It sounds like he thinks he’s still aboard Kelvin.

**Sulu:** Explains the Klingon fixation, at any rate.

…………………………………….

(Back aboard the Lavlin. Everyone looking at Spock)

 **McCoy:** A Mindmeld?

 **Spock** (nods as if this should be the most obvious thing in the world): If I were to mindmeld with the captain, I may be able to help him hold onto sanity, at least long enough to do what must be done.

**Kirk:** You won’t be able to go into the healing trance if you’re in a meld with me.

 **Spock:** Yes. And I would have to accompany you. in my current condition, I would need close proximity to maintain the meld. We will have to go together. I can hold on till we reach the Engineering.

 **Kirk:** I can handle any fighting that comes our way. (He’s sure about this, at any rate.)

 **McCoy** (hovering with the tricorder near Spock and really not liking what the readings show – Spock can look as unshaken as he likes, but even he can’t fool a medical tricorder): A meld takes a great deal out of you, and I’m not talking just mental energy. It burns almost as much physical energy as a marathon takes. Are you sure you’ll be able to hold on long enough?

 **Spock:** Not with any other mind, perhaps. But the captain’s mind is surprisingly compatible with my own. Maintaining the meld will not be as much a strain as it would be under other circumstances.

(Despite the circumstances, Kirk seems to find the idea of deep compatibility between their minds a very pleasant concept.)

**Kirk:** I thought you said my mind was a study in chaos?

**Spock** : Organized chaos. Besides, the Terran axiom – opposites attract – is relevant in psychic phenomena. (looks at McCoy) All the same, I would need your assistance, doctor. If there is some way to control the symptoms..

(His lips are slightly tinged with blue now, breathing a bit faster than normal. The body beginning to struggle for oxygen)

 **McCoy** (grim faced, looks for a hypo from his kit): This should hold you for a while. And you two had better take the medkit along. Won’t be much use in my hands anyway, pretty soon.

(he doesn’t like the plan, but offers no counter arguments this time – partly because he knows there’s no time for arguments, partly because he’s afraid to face an argument at this time, with his own mental control beginning to totter)


	4. Chapter 4

**Kirk** : Are you sure you are up to this?

 **Spock:** Reasonably sure, Captain.

(He doesn’t give the exact odds like he usually does, which is enough to tell Kirk and McCoy that either the odds really aren’t good or his condition is declining faster than feared..or both.)

 **Kirk** (even if the odds are low, a slight chance is better than no chance…plus, they’re Starfleet people – beating the odds is sort of the usual line of business.): Let’s get on with it, then.

(Even Kirk is starting to look nervous, maybe feeling something starting to give way in his mind. Spock steps forward, placing his fingers on Kirk’s face in the usual Meld position. He’s breathing a bit easier now, whatever was in the hypo McCoy gave him is starting to work, but still looks far from well)

 **Spock** ( the usual soothing, hypnotic tone of a mindmeld chant): My mind to yours…My will to yours…

…………………………….

(Enterprise Bridge, Scotty is out of the command chair, at the Engineering console, probably trying to work out some way to breach the Lavlin’s shields – he hates this waiting game)

 **Sulu** (quietly, to Scotty): Can they… Will they make it?

 **Chekov** (indignant at the very idea that the senior officers he hero worships could possibly fail): Of course they vill! It’s the Captain and Mr Spock!

 **Scotty** (chuckles slightly at the ensign’s outburst): If anyone can, it’ll be them, laddie.

 **Sulu** (not as sure as Chekov – he has been in Deep Space long enough to know that there are some odds even the best of the best can’t beat): He’s half human…

 **Uhura** : Not really

(The other three turn to look at her.)

 **Uhura(** shrugs): Mixed species doesn’t mean patchwork quilt physiology, you know. Least, not always. Sometimes one species’ DNA is way dominant over the other, so that any kid they have together has a good chance of being physiologically identical to the dominant one… I’d be surprised if Mr Spock is even one eighth human, for any practical purpose.

 **Sulu:** Yeah… Otherwise they couldn’t have used his blood for Ambassador Sarek that time.

 **Scotty:** How d’ye know, lassie?

 **Uhura** (slight sigh): Chapel.

(Sulu muffles a chuckle – from Uhura’s tone, it’s clear that Chapel had found that set of facts a bit discouraging, though not as discouraging as the target of her very unrequited crush would’ve liked)

…………………………….

(Lavlin sickbay. Kirk, Spock, McCoy and Hiddleston present.)

 **Kirk:** I don’t feel any different. Melds usually feel…uh, more..

 **Spock** (his lips doesn’t move, it’s his mental voice – telepathy): _Intimate?_

 **Kirk:** Yeah, intimate… Wait, you didn’t say that out loud.

 **Spock** (speaking out loud now): I did not want to risk as deep a merging as is normal, especially as we will not be able to maintain skin contact throughout. Instead, I established a temporary link between us- it should be sufficient for our present purpose.

 **McCoy** (looking worried as hell, partly because he’s always worried when telepathy is involved, partly because he really doesn’t like the idea of the pair heading into the chaos out there – even their luck is bound to run out, sooner or later. Hopefully later.): Should be? Not all that reassuring…

(The others don’t respond. Right now, ‘should be’ is the best they can do, and it will have to be enough.)

 **Kirk** (shrugs): Good luck, you two. (one of his patented Kirkian charm smiles to the Redshirt ensign) Take care of him, Hiddleston.

 **Hiddleston** (returns the smile, though a bit wanly): Yes sir!

 **McCoy** (grumpily): And you two try not to get yourselves killed.

 **Spock** (raises an eyebrow): Certainly, doctor.

(Kirk chuckles, turns to go.)

…………………………………

(Back aboard the Enterprise, Medical labs, M’Benga and a couple of other medical staff present)

 **M’Benga** (pointing at a complicated looking formula and 3D diagram of a molecule onscreen): This should do it. Transmit it to the pharmacology dept, ask them to start synthesis immediately.

 **Chapel** ( enters the room, looking very worried): We lost contact with Dr McCoy.

 **M’Benga** (glances up briefly, turns back to the screen): If he felt the infection taking hold, he wouldn’t want to let us hear him like that.

 **Chapel** : The Captain and Mr Spock are still in touch with the Bridge.. They’re going to try and get to Lavlin Engineering.

(She looks at him, almost as asking to be told they will make it…more importantly, that Spock will make it. M’Benga stays silent)

…………………………………

(Lavlin. Outside the sickbay, McCoy and Hidleston standing just outside the door. They ought to go in, lock themselves in isolation, but for the moment they are poised anxiously, looking down the corridor the others had disappeared through. Watching, listening. Dreading to hear the sound of a fight, or a cry…)

 **Hiddleston (** looks away from the corridor): Sir, we should get back in…

 **McCoy** (nods a bit distractedly): Yeah, we should…

(Hiddleston touches his arm gently. McCoy starts a little, blinks)

 **McCoy** : Yeah, better get in.

(Both turn to enter the sickbay…too late. One of the Lavlin officers – probably security department, tough to tell the uniform colors in the dimly lit corridor- darts forward, tackling McCoy)

 **Hiddleston:** Doctor!

(Draws her phaser, but can’t get a clear shot – they are moving too fast. The mad man’s strangling the CMO – McCoy does have some combat training, but nowhere near enough to break this chokehold)

**McCoy** (gasping out): Help!

(Hiddleston leaps forward, pulling the attacker off McCoy. She’s smaller than him, but that means little – she has learned to use what she has with perfect, deadly skill. McCoy staggers back, shaky, leaning against the corridor wall to catch his breath as Hiddleston wrestles with the attacker, supple and swift as a leopard.)

 **McCoy** (fumbles, trying to reach the sickbay): Come on, Len.

(A final punch from Hiddleston knocks out the attacker…but she doesn’t stop. Can’t stop. Keeps hitting, raining down savage blows on him, though he’s unconscious on the ground. Her eyes are narrowed, flashing fire. Lips drawn back in a feral snarl. McCoy realizes what’s happening, with a pang of horror.)

 **McCoy** : Hiddleston! Kishara!

(She doesn’t respond to her name. McCoy hesitates – he doesn’t have a phaser, not even his medkit to pull out a hypo from. In her condition, no telling what she’ll do to anyone who gets between her and her prey.)

 **McCoy:** Kishara! Ensign!

(She doesn’t even seem to hear. McCoy reluctantly steps forward – if she’s not stopped, she’s going to end up actually killing the unfortunate Lavlin guy.)

 **McCoy** (grasping her shoulders, pulling her away from the foe’s motionless form): Kishara! Listen!

(She whirls, pulling out of his grip effortlessly, turns on him, snarling. She’s dropped her phaser, and pays no attention to it – now she’s in the mood for more old fashioned methods.)

**McCoy** (alarmed, backing away from her. She may be a head shorter and ten pounds lighter than him, but he’s just seen how she dealt with a trained security officer twice her size. The non-action-guy CMO doesn’t stand a chance): Ensign…

(glances at the dropped phaser as if assessing his chances of going for it. no use. She’s between him and it. Hiddleston prepares to pounce, snarling like a wild animal.)

 **McCoy** (giving his best imitation of the Drill Sergeant voice): Officer Hiddleston! Halt! Officer!

(That gets through. Hiddleston stops, blinking, her eyes clearing for a moment. Realizing what she came within a second of doing, she stumbles back, back into the sickbay. McCoy darts forward with adrenaline fueled speed and slams the door shut, punches in a code at the screen close to the door. The sickbay doors seal themselves, just as Hiddleston throws herself at them on the other side. The brief moment of clarity has passed.)

 **McCoy** (realizing now he’s out in the open, and alone): Damn.

(Goes for the phaser. Hesitates. Goes to the unconscious guy, checks his pulse and breathing. The guy looks very bruised, has a nasty nosebleed, but from the doctor’s expression, it looks like he’ll probably make it. McCoy drags him into one of the nearby niches, places him there out of the immediate sight of any of his violent crewmates should any come this way, turns him on his side so that he doesn’t choke on the blood from his nosebleed.)

…………………………………

(One of the Lavlin corridors, Kirk and Spock cautiously making their way through, on the lookout for any hostile. The corridor is dimly lit – only the slight emergency lighting, barely enough to see by. It’s debris strewn, wires which have been pulled out of the walls sparking violently. They have to be very careful where they step.)

 **Kirk** : If we-

 **Spock** (mind voice): _Better not speak aloud, Captain. Think it. I can hear._

 **Kirk** (hesitates a moment, eyes narrowed as he concentrates): _We’d better go through one of the Jeffries tubes. There should be one near here._

 **Spock** (mind voice betraying slight amusement): _You need not concentrate so hard, sir. Our minds are linked. I can hear you think._

 **Kirk:** _Oh._

(Looks like he’s trying to replay exactly what he had thought in the last few moments and apparently rather embarrassed)

 **Kirk** (mind voice): _Um, you know human thoughts have this habit of going off on weird tangents, right? Especially when things are getting tense…That bit about Risa…_

 **Spock** (amused tolerance of a stuck-babysitting-elder-brother): _Your plans for the next shore leave are no concern of mine, Jim. And no, I certainly will not be accompanying you – the forms of entertainment offered at Risa holds no appeal for me._

(Kirk blushes a little, gives him a slightly shamefaced smile.) 

………………………………………..

(Another corridor, Lavlin. McCoy is hurrying through, very nervous, clutching the phaser like a lifeline – but also like he probably won’t be able to use it properly if/when he gets jumped.)

 **Spock’s voice** : You will not be able to catch up with us, Doctor.

(McCoy whirls, startled. Spock is standing beside him, looking very disapproving)

 **McCoy:** What the hell are you doing here? Where’s Jim?

 **Spock** (continuing, as if there had been no interruption): And even if you were to catch up, you would simply be a liability. You can hardly use the computer interface in the sickbay without calling in tech support dozen times a day, what are you going to do in Engineering?

 **McCoy** (stares. Slow realization): You aren’t here…

(closes his eyes, opens them again – Spock’s figure is gone. He’s alone in the corridor.)

 **McCoy:** Blasted hobgoblin… Can’t get rid of him even now.

……………………………………

(Interior Jeffries tubes. Kirk and Spock moving through the narrow tube. Spock stumbles, nearly falls. Kirk looks concerned, holds out a hand to steady him.)

 **Kirk:** Spock…

 **Spock** (mental voice _): I can continue, Captain._

(Kirk doesn’t look too sure of that, but pushes on, because, well, what else can you do?)

 **Kirk** (suddenly halts): Hey!

(He’s nearly stepped on a dead body slumped against the wall. Bends down, twisting a bit in the narrow space, checks the pulse – it’s a corpse. Traces of green blood.)

 **Kirk:** Vulcan. There were two of them, then.

 **Spock:** _Three. All are dead_.

 **Kirk** (giving him a startled look): _You…felt them die? Like Intrepid?_

 **Spock** : _I…heard them die..Heard their voices go silent._

(Kirk looks very puzzled)

 **Kirk** : _So that Vulcan Mind Web’s not just a space legend?_

 **Spock** : _The legend, like all legends, happen to be wildly exaggerated. We are each aware of the presence of others of our kind, but only as a..background noise. Like the sounds of engines and machinery aboard Enterprise. It always exists, to the extent that it is automatically filtered out, but if something were to go wrong, if one voice, close by, were to go silent, that would attract attention._

(Flashback – Enterprise Observation lounge, Spock standing with his palm pressed against the transparent wall, expression calm as if he’s meditating…but his uncharacteristically tense posture gives a hint of something troubling him. He’s listening intently, as if trying to pick out the direction a call or a cry came from) 

**Spock** (voiceover): _Someone like T’Pau, or a priest of Gol, would be able to pinpoint the exact location of the one who was silenced, but for any other Vulcan, it’s difficult to gauge physical distances based on psychic emanations. I was not sure, at first, that the deaths I sensed were those of Lavlin officers._

………………………………………

(McCoy, now looking more than a little wild eyed, glancing right and left as he hurries, almost runs, through the corridors. He’s clearly struggling to hold on to his sanity, and not being too successful at it.)

**McCoy:** Come on, come on, just a bit more, Len, get to them, just a little more..

 **A woman’s voice** : That’s right, keep running.

(McCoy glances back at the voice – it’s a middle aged, but still beautiful woman with jet black, waist length hair and dark, flashing eyes. McCoy’s ex wife.)

 **McCoy** (groans): Jocelyn. I take it back. The hobgoblin’s good company.

 **Jocelyn:** Take it back? We tried so many times that I lost count, Leonard. It’s not going to work, it was never going to work. So just keep running. Run from me, from Joanna, from those friends of yours. If they are friends. Do you actually _have_ friends? Here? Among these people, the starship people?

 **McCoy (** turns away resolutely): Shut up. Shut up.

 **Jocelyn:** Or are they sorry for you? Is he sorry for you, this Captain, this Jim? Sorry for his old friend who can’t live a normal life, got to tag on out here where he shouldn’t be… You really think you got a place here, Leonard? You really think you belong with them, belong among the stars?

 **McCoy** (shouting): Leave me alone!

 **Jocelyn** (relentless): The Vulcan – Spock – he isn’t the alien, you are. You are the one who can’t think like them, the one who freaks out when it looks like someone has a different view of right and wrong, the one who still has a near panic attack when they ask you to get on the transporter. You should be treating runny noses and sore throats down some Georgia street. At least if you screwed up there no one would die.

 **McCoy** (tightly controlled voice): Go. Away.

 **Jocelyn:** They’re going to die. You know that, don’t you? Should never have trusted you. They’ll die and-

(McCoy whirls around, shoots the apparition. Jocelyn’s image wavers and dissipates as the phaser rays go through it and hit the wall behind)

……………………………………..

(A corridor some distance away. About half dozen of the Lavlin crew attacking Kirk and Spock. Kirk seems to be making short work of them, outnumbered or not. One guy has gone for Spock who is trying to defend himself, but can’t. Kirk, dispatching the guy he was struggling with, darts back to take down the one attacking Spock.)

 **Kirk** (after taking down the last mad man with a judo chop): Spock?

 **Spock** : I.. I am unharmed.

(All the same, even those few moments of struggle turn out to be too much. He’s clearly having difficulty catching his breath, reaches into the medkit for one of the hypos, tries to inject himself. But his fingers seem to have lost their usual dexterity, and he almost drops the hypo)

 **Kirk** (taking the hypo from him): Let me do that.

………………………………………….

(McCoy, again. His POV. The Lavlin corridors seem to blink out of existence to be replaced by Enterprise corridors. Corridors strewn with his dead crewmates. Kirk, Spock, Uhura, Scotty, Sulu, all lying dead around him.)

 **McCoy** (blinking, trying to clear his vision): No, not real, not real, I’m not there, I am…I am..

**A girl’s voice:** Dad?

(He turns around to see a girl in her late teens, with Jocelyn’s thick dark hair – not waistlength, though, instead cut in a gamine fashion – and McCoy’s pale blue eyes. Joanna McCoy. His daughter.)


	5. Chapter 5

(Engineering department, Lavlin. The place is a wreck, more or less. Looks like whoever had been here when the virus hit went full-on Hulk Smash on the place – fortunately, even on a ship like Lavlin that is meant to see almost no action, the warp engines are built to weather full speed collisions, so not much damage there. The emergency isolation door has sealed the room off from the engine core. Several consoles are broken and sparking, probably non functional)

 **Kirk (** starts to speak out loud, changes his mind, mental voice): Looks like no one’s home…

 **Spock** (looking at the tricorder): Two terrans present

(Two lavlin officers – only one of them an engineer, going by the uniforms – are present. One of them has a power relay box open and is tearing out wires by the handful, ignoring the sparks raining down around him – some miracle has kept him from getting electrocuted till now. The other is at a broken console, punching the buttons randomly and violently, like someone playing an aggressive video game.)

 **Kirk:** All right…

…………………………….

(McCoy, with Joanna’s image tagging along. He’s trying his best to ignore her, but it is increasingly difficult as the view keeps shifting between the empty lavlin corridors and the hallucination of the Enterprise corridors strewn with corpses.)

 **Joanna:** You’re going the wrong way!

 **McCoy** (not looking back at her): Leave me alone!

 **Joanna** : You’ll get killed if I do.

 **McCoy** (blinking rapidly in an effort to clear his vision of his dead crewmates): I’m gonna get killed anyway. Why the hell didn’t I just lock myself up somewhere? This Lone Ranger trip is the sort of thing Jim does, not me!

 **Joanna** (half exasperated, half resigned tone): You can still lock yourself in, you know.

 **McCoy** (doesn’t even stop to consider it): And then your mom will catch up. No thanks.

……………………………………………

(Lavlin Engineering. Close up on the infected crew members. Both get nerve pinched simultaneously, collapsing without a sound.)

 **Kirk (** easing his victim to the floor, grinning): Hey, that’s the first time I did it!

(Spock raises an eyebrow, but doesn’t say anything.)

 **Kirk** (noticing Spock’s reaction): Well, I.. (realizing) … I didn’t do it this time either, did I? (crestfallen look)

 **Spock:** Not entirely.

…………………………

(McCoy and Joanna, the former looking increasingly frustrated and disheveled.)

 **Joanna:** Someone’s coming!

(McCoy, who is seeing the Enterprise corridors, ignores her steadily.)

 **Joanna:** Can’t you hear! Someone’s-

(One of the Lavlin crew comes round the corner – this one is not violent, just very terrified. A young woman in blue science uniform, looks like an ensign. Sobbing, panicked.)

 **Ensign:** Help! Help, someone, please, please, anyone..

(McCoy’s eyes widen. He’s seeing the creature from ‘The Mantrap’ – the salt vampire that nearly killed him and Kirk)

 **Ensign** (flings her arms around McCoy, clinging to him for protection, evidently doesn’t have the least idea what is happening): Take me home! Please, I don’t wanna stay!

(McCoy is still seeing her as the salt vampire. He screams, pulls away from her grip. As she still advances, he shoots her. The first hit takes her down, but he instinctively keeps pressing the trigger – fortunately, most of these shots go wild, not hitting the unconscious ensign. One shot hits the door he was about to go through, melting and sealing it shut.)

 **Jocelyn:** There, you’ve finally done it. Gone and killed someone.

(McCoy blinks, his vision clears to show the ensign instead of the vampire. He looks horrified.)

 **Jocelyn** : I knew it. What were they thinking of, letting a bundle of nerves like you carry an actual weapon… And now that poor girl..

(McCoy drops to his knees next to the motionless figure, frantically trying to check for a pulse. The girl is still breathing, that can be easily seen, but in his disoriented state McCoy is not so sure. When he places his fingers on her neck to check for a pulse, he’s checking at the wrong location, and obviously can’t get a pulse.)

 **Jocelyn:** And how do you think-

 **Joanna** (typical exasperated teen voice): Oh, shut up, Mom!

 **Jocelyn:** Don’t you dare talk to your mother like that!

 **McCoy** (not paying any attention to either of them): Oh God…

 **Joanna** (waving a hand in front of McCoy’s face): Um, hello? I took only high school first aid course and even I know that’s not where you look for a pulse… And aren’t these phaser things definite non lethal on stun?

 **McCoy** (just realizing that): Oh.

 **Joanna** (arms folded across her chest, annoyed expression): And now will you please listen to me? You know, for a change?

…………………….

(Lavlin engineering. The place is in shambles, instrument panels ripped from the walls, wires dangling aimlessly, shattered fragments of equipment on the floor. Kirk looks very uncertain of their ability to get this place in working order in time.)

 **Kirk** (on communicator): Scotty, which one did you say controlled the over ride options?

 **Scotty:** Panel seven, sir. Should be right near to the drive’s control systems.

(Kirk is standing next to the panel in question – it’s been completely wrecked)

 **Kirk:** We may have a problem…

 **Spock** (at one of the comparatively intact consoles): There is a spike in the warp field array. Possible containment deviation.

(Rapidly typing commands at the console)

 **Spock:** Switching to primary bypass. Containment fields at thirty seven percent and falling.

 **Kirk** (low voice, more to himself than to Scotty): We have another problem…

…………………………..

(Enterprise Bridge. Everyone listening to the conversation. Those who have enough engineering know-how to understand what is happening look alarmed, even those without an idea about it can figure out it is serious trouble)

 **Scotty:** You’ll have to put her into a complete warp core shutdown, sir.

…………………

(Lavlin.)

 **Kirk:** Can’t do that without their chief engineer’s over ride codes. The computer won’t accept commands from outsiders.

(He’s typing in commands at the control console, but it isn’t working – an INPUT AUTHORIZATION CODE message on the screen.)

 **Spock:** The core's containment fields at thirty three percent. (a moment’s struggle to catch his breath) Containment breach inevitable below fifteen.

(He is trying to get past the security system, but is definitely not at a hundred percent. Vision blurs for a moment, the data on the screen becoming indistinct. He puts a hand to his forehead, dizzy.)

 **Kirk:** Spock?

 **Spock (** he’s leaning against the console for support): I.. I am sorry, Captain. I can’t..

(Kirk glances at the medkit – there aren’t any more of the stimulant hypos.)

 **Kirk:** It’s okay, I can handle this from here.

(He clearly can’t – no matter how skilled he is at hacking, there’s simply no time. And both of them know that. Spock looks disgusted at himself for this moment of weakness, but there is nothing he can do. He has already held on as long as possible, and maintaining the meld is in itself pretty energy intensive.)

 **Kirk:** Scotty, won’t the computer automatically shut down the core if it senses a power surge?

 **Scotty:** It ought to, sir, but if things down there are as bad as it looks from here, that won’t be in time. It would shut down the core, yes, but there’s going to be a momentary loss of control at the point of shutdown. That’ll send the reaction into overdrive…only for a second or two, but that’ll be too long. Long enough for the core to breach.

 **Kirk** : And to blow us all into kingdom come.

………………………………….

(Enterprise Bridge. Chekov, now at the Science Station, has his eyes glued to the readings. He looks up suddenly)

 **Chekov:** Sair!

(Scotty looks at him with a ‘what now’ expression)

 **Chekov:** Sir, the Lavlin’s atmosphere’s beginning to breakdown. Environment controls deteriorating. They can’t keep recycling the air.

 **Scotty** (shrugs): That won’t matter. It’s gonna take at least two hours for the air supply to be an issue, and that ship’s gonna blow up long before that.

 **Kirk’s voice** (calm, steady – not resigned to his fate, not yet, but preparing for the worst): Scotty. Get the Enterprise out of the blast radius.

 **Scotty** (with a Eureka look): Wait a second… Ensign, you said their environment controls are going?

 **Chekov** (not sure where this is heading): Yes sir.

 **Scotty** (speaking very fast now): They cannae be going down for lack of power, the Lavlin systems are programmed to give priority to atmosphere controls over everything else. If it was a lack of power, the shields would’ve gone down before the atmosphere was affected-

 **Kirk** (catching on): So whatever is wrong is with the computer itself. It’s getting confused, with all the contradictory commands that are being fed in. Not to mention all the circuits getting ripped out.

(Scotty winces at the image Kirk is describing – to him it feels like hearing about a unique work of art trashed, or a beauty queen getting disfigured.)

…………………………………..

(Lavlin engineering department.)

 **Kirk** (continues): if it is confused enough to mess up the atmosphere controls, maybe we can confuse it a bit more…

 **Spock:** The fastest option would be to convince it that a warp core breach is occurring.

(Kirk glances at him, questioning.)

 **Spock:** The problem with the automatic shut down process is that by the time the computer detects a power surge in the warp core it would be too late to initiate shut down safely. But if it can be tricked into believing that a power surge is occurring…if we simulate a power surge of far lesser intensity, but sufficient to trigger a shutdown..

 **Scotty** (who has been hearing the discussion through the open comm. channel): Ye’ll need to get to the breakers, sir. Use some kind of power source to sent a surge of power through the breakers, the ones located at level seven alpha. It’ll be enough to convince the Lavlin computer that it needs to shut the core down.

 **Kirk** (looking around the wrecked engineering rooms): A power source..

 **Scotty** (checking the readings at a console next to him): Ye’ll need to move fast, sir. Field stability’s down to twentythree.

(No time to search and find a safe power source in the midst of this disaster zone. Kirk looks at his phaser, with the power cells attached.)

 **Kirk:** Got it.

…………………………….

(McCoy and Joanna, now crawling through one of the Jeffreies Tubes. This one is far smaller than the ones Kirk and Spock had been using before, and the CMO has to crawl on his hands and knees. He really doesn’t like this. But at least, there aren’t any more hallucinations of corpses. Joanna’s presence seems to be acting as a stabilizing agent.)

 **McCoy:** And how in the name of all that’s holy do you know your way around a starship?

 **Joanna** (shrugging): I don’t. You do.

 **McCoy:** Great. Just great. Just hope this isn’t some damn incineration chute we’re crawling down…

…………………………….

(Another section of the engineering department. This place is different, a silo type structure with smooth walls occasionally punctuated by small pieces of grillwork, shielding the complex internal circuits of the ship’s mainframe computer.)

 **Kirk** (craning his neck to get a good look at the twenty foot structure): And the breakers we need are…

 **Spock:** At the very top.

 **Kirk** (sighs): Of course…

……………….

(Enterprise. Scotty has a small grin on his face, despite the dire situation.)

 **Scotty:** Good thing that you got all those rock climbing medals at the Academy, sir.

…………………….

(Lavlin Engineering. The pair has managed to rig up some kind of climbing equipment from the wreckage in the Engineering. Kirk is almost halfway up the cylinder, making his way up with the assured ease of the experienced climber. All the same, a little nervous – this is way smoother than the smoothest cliff he’s tried.)

 **Kirk** (muttered, to himself): And of course there wouldn’t be any anti grav boots that fit me..

(Spock is watching him. The Vulcan looks very pale, shaky. The hypoxia, combined with the effort of maintaining the mental link, is draining his energy by the minute. His lips are tinged with blue, face grayish. He seems to be struggling to stay conscious.)

 **Kirk (** he has his communicator attached to his arm, on an open channel to Enterprise): Scotty, with the engines shutdown, the shields are going to blink out automatically-

 **Scotty :** We’ve got the transporter room standing by to grab you the instant the shields go, sir. Dr M’Benga’s got a cure fixed.

 **Kirk** : Good.

(The lighting here is rather low, thanks to the damages. Neither Kirk nor Spock sees the group of Lavlin crew members who are moving through the mazes of equipment, with the silent speed of a stalking wolf pack. They seem to be focused on the nearest, and now the most vulnerable, target – Spock. The tricorder must be registering their presence, but Spock is no longer paying much attention to it. All his waning energy is focused on keeping the mental link between himself and the captain active.)

……………………..

(McCoy climbs out of the Jeffries tubes, face coated in some kind of grime, looking disoriented and very irritated. Has the phaser in hand, pointing randomly left and right.)

 **Joanna:** This way.

 **McCoy:** How d’you know?

(Joanna points at the signs on the walls.)

 **McCoy:** Oh.

……………………

(Kirk is at the top of the silo structure, got a panel open and is connecting his phaser’s powercell to it. Making the connection is a bit complicated, but manages to do it. Below, the Lavlin crew members are getting close enough to pounce.)

 **Scotty:** Better hurry a bit, sir, the containment field’s down to seventeen-

 **Kirk** (I-don’t-need-a-countdown tone): Nearly there, Scotty.

 **Scotty:** It should take a minute or two for the energy to drain into it.

(Below, Spock hears movement behind him, whirls around. Too late. The pack of infected crewmembers are upon him. He tries to draw his phaser and shoot, but the weapon drops from his hands before he can do anything. He’s too disoriented and weak from the hypoxia to stand a chance of defending himself.)

(Kirk starts, looks down to see what is going on. He instinctively reaches for his phaser – even from this distance it shouldn’t be too tough for a marksman of his skill to take down the attackers…realizes that it is not an option. He can either complete the connections and set off the engine shutdown or use the phaser to defend Spock. No time for both. And the engine shut down is the priority here, for the sake of both ships and everyone aboard)

 **Kirk:** Damn it.

(Turns back to complete the connections. His expression is agonized, knowing well that he has, in all probability, condemned Spock to death. But there’s no choice – will just have to hope that the shutdown will take out the shields in time for a beamout rescue. Below, the maddened crew members have overwhelmed Spock, who seems to have lost consciousness.)

………………………

(McCoy, in the Engineering department, but not clear whether he knows where he is. Joanna has disappeared. He’s glancing around frantically, looking for her)

 **McCoy:** Jo? Jo, where-

(Hears something, stumbles in that direction. Comes upon the Lavlin crew attacking Spock)

 **McCoy:** What-

(He’s not quite sure what he is seeing, everything is indistinct, blurred. He can see that someone is under attack, someone is being killed. For a moment it looks like Joanna is the victim, then Jim, then Spock, Joanna again… It’s a confused blur, but one thing is clear – someone is getting badly hurt, and it is someone he is bound to protect.)

 **McCoy** (yelling): Stop!

(Naturally, there is no response from the attackers. McCoy raises the phaser, barely manages to aim, and fires. His aim is at least good enough to catch most of the Lavlin crew in the blast. The attackers drop to the floor, stunned. This time he doesn’t bother to check whether they are dead or stunned, but darts to Spock’s side. He’s still not sure whether the motionless figure is Spock or Jim or Joanna.)

 **McCoy (** confused): Jo?

(Up near the breakers, Kirk completes the connections. The energy in the phaser’s powercell pour into the circuit, signaling a dangerous power surge to the Lavlin computer. All over the Engineering, the consoles that still remain functional lights up. A warning siren begins to blare – not the usual red alert tone. This one is signaling warp core shut down. The lights begin to flicker, then go off completely.)

 **Kirk** (urgency plain in his tone): Scotty!

…………………

(Enterprise Bridge. Every one’s eyes fixed on the viewscreen which shows the figure of the Lavlin – the red shade that marked the diagram dulls to bluegreen. The danger is past, with the warp engines completely shut down.)

 **Chekov:** The shields are going down, sir!

 **Scotty** (who doesn’t need to be told): Transporter room-

 **Kyle** (via transporter room intercom): Got them, sir!

……………………………………………….

(Later. Enterprise Sickbay. Some of the Lavlin crew members – including the attacker on the Bridge and the ensign McCoy stunned – can be seen sitting up in bed or walking around. The cure is working. In one of the private cubicles, Spock sitting up in bed, Kirk seated at his bedside, McCoy leaning against the doorframe casually. McCoy is wearing sickbay scrubs and not his usual uniform – M’Benga hasn’t let him back on duty yet, and the CMO is none too pleased about that. Kirk, on the other hand, looks quite amused at the good doctor getting a dose of his own medicine.)

 **Kirk** (half teasing tone): That was some fancy shooting down there, Bones. I told you all that target practice would come in useful. (Tone slightly more admiring) And making your way through the ship alone…

 **Spock:** It seems that the doctor displayed slightly better sense when literally deranged than while technically sane.

 **McCoy** (glares at him): Don’t be flattered. I thought you were Joanna, or I wouldn’t have bothered.

(Kirk chuckles, Spock looks disapproving.)


End file.
